The Experiment
by Ashieyu66
Summary: Gaara is a genetically engineered weapon who will be given to the highest bidder. He knows not of love, happiness or anything to do with the outside world. That is, until he meets the newest research recruit of the company who created him...GaaraxLee
1. Chapter 1: The Genetic Age

Wow! My first Naruto Fanfic! I'm so excited! It's a sci-fi ish romance/drama/hopefully some humor story. My first sci-fi ish and guyXguy! Lee and Gaara forever!!! No, this will NOT be anything with citrus. I don't particularly like that genre, but hey, whatever suits you. Anywho, please review! I hope you like it!!! Please Review!!! I'm going to do the best I can with the science part, I already know a bit of genetic stuff from what I've learned in school and from what I've read by Michael Crichton (who is my favourite author! Currently reading "Next" by him, which actually inspired this story!) Please enjoy "The Experiment" !

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**The Experiment**

**A _Naruto_ FanFiction by Ashieyu66**

**Chapter One: The Genetic Age**

_The 21st century: an age of new politics, entertainment and technology. We have discovered the wonders of genetics and how we can utilize this area of study to cure and even modify old and new generations of sickness, disease and even physical traits as well as our very own personality with a single gene._

_New genes are being discovered everyday, each showing a link to one trait or another. From genes which affect your religious beliefs to genes which control your maturity we are developing methods to further improve ourselves._

_But how far should we go? Will we go as far as developing "perfect" children which parents can order from a magazine? Will everyone have a clone which they can use for organ transplants? Will genetically modified beings be made to be utilized as weapons of war? Or has it already been done without the public knowing? We must ponder how much we all really want to discover…

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The young man was shrouded with darkness, although he didn't know what it was. Soon he began hearing his first sounds, although he didn't know what "sounds" were and that he was "hearing" them. A strange sensation flowed through him; it was like he had branches that kept him together. He did not know that he had a body or he could feel things. He sensed other presences around him. They were making these "sounds" that he heard, but for some unknown reason to him, they made sense to him.

"He should be waking up soon,"

"Excellent. Just as I hoped,"

Soon his conscious began to form. He now understood that he had a body that could feel things, that he had ears to hear sounds. He now understood that those sounds around him were voices. He understood that he was surrounded by darkness, simply because his eyes were closed. He felt something hard and cold underneath his body which was uncomfortable. Beyond the voices, he heard beeping sounds and buzzing sounds. There were things attached all over his body.

_Who am I? Where am I? What is going on?_

"Any minute now, he should gain consciousness for the first time," a voice said.

"Finally, our ultimate weapon is complete! This is a grand moment indeed," another voice said. It was deeper than the other voices.

_First time? Ultimate weapon?_

He slowly began to open his eyes. The first thing he saw was a blinding light. His eyes seemed sensitive to this light, as they squinted.

"His eyes have opened!" another voice exclaimed. He opened his eyes completely. Now there were two shadows looming above him. One had light coloured hair that was put up in four different areas, and the other had dark coloured hair with weird designs on his face.

_Who are these people?_

He tried to sit up, but his arms refused to move. The light-haired one responded to this.

"Please don't try to move. You're entire body hasn't completely awakened yet,"

"Let me see him," the deep voice said. The light-haired person moved to the side. He heard some movement to his right. He slowly turned his head to another person who sat in the shadows. He assumed this person to be the one with the deep voice.

"Wonderful…you are wonderful indeed…I am truly pleased," the person with the deep voice said.

He tried to use his voice for the first time. "W…who are you?" he said in a hoarse whisper.

"You may call me 'Father', since I created you," the deep voiced person responded.

"'Father'? Created me?" he repeated. He looked back up at the lights. "What am I?"

The person with the deep voice chuckled. "You still have much to learn. But all you need to know for now is that you are Project AI000 made by BioNin Incorporated. But I don't really like AI000, since that name is just for the paperwork,"

AI000 just continued to stare up at the lights. "What would you rather me be called, then?" he said finally.

Although AI000 couldn't see it, the person in the shadows was grinning wickedly. "Well, you haven't seen it yet, but one your forehead there is a tattoo which reads the Japanese symbol "ai" or "love". You were made to only love yourself, so I believe the name 'Gaara' is fitting. Don't you agree?" the deep-voiced person asked.

"_Gaara_…" he repeated.

"Well, I must leave. I have business to attend to. Temari, Kankuro, see to it that he is functioning properly then send him to the Information Integration room," the deep voiced person ordered.

"Yes sir," they both responded. Gaara turned his head to where 'Father' was sitting, but now 'Father' was gone.

Soon the two others were hovering over him again. They began to speak to him. The light-haired one was called "Temari" and the dark-haired one was called "Kankuro". They began to poke at him with strange objects and asked him questions like "Did you feel that?" or they asked him to try to move and breathe. At first, it was difficult but soon his body began to loosen up and moving became easier. Gaara looked back to where 'Father' had sat moments before.

_You were made to only love yourself…_

"What…what is 'love'?" Gaara asked suddenly. Temari and Kankuro looked at each other, as if trying to figure out what to say. Temari was the one who spoke.

"You don't need to worry about something like that right now, Gaara," Temari explained. But Gaara wasn't satisfied with this.

"But how can I accomplish what I was made to do if I don't know what 'love' is. Father said I was made to love myself…" Gaara responded.

"Don't worry about what Father said," Kankuro said. Temari nodded.

"That's right. You'll learn everything you'll need to know once you go to the Information Integration room," Temari added. Gaara didn't speak a word afterwards.

_What am I?

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_

After they finished examining him, Temari and Kankuro lifted Gaara and put him on a contraption that allowed him to sit up and move around simply by them pushing him. They called it a "wheel chair". Gaara didn't like it. He wanted to move his legs like they did, on their own. Why was he so different? He decided to ask Temari. Temari seemed nicer than Kankuro. Temari didn't pinch him as hard as Kankuro did.

"Temari, why can't my legs move like yours? I want to be able to move on my own," Gaara asked.

"It's because you haven't learned how to walk yet. You'll learn how to after you learn other things like math and stuff at the Information Integration room. Then you'll go to Physiotherapy where you'll learn how to use your body," Temari explained.

Gaara didn't really understand what all these words were. What exactly was 'Information Integration'? or math? or 'Physiotherapy'? Why did he have to do these things?

When they arrived at Information Integration, Gaara felt very strange. He didn't know what this feeling was, but it made him fidget and sweat a little. There was a single bed like the one he awoke on in the room with a large box with lots of wires attached to it. Only one person who had no hair stood next to the box. The person didn't look very nice, not that he knew what 'nice' was.

"Don't be nervous, Gaara. This man is going to put a bunch of cool information in your head," Kankuro explained.

Nervous? Was that what he was feeling? He didn't know what was going on at all…he wish he knew…maybe this would help…

They lifted him up and placed him on the table. They strapped him down, which made Gaara more 'nervous'. They told him it was just a precaution because they didn't want him to fall off. The 'man' as Kankuro called the person began attaching the wires to his head. While the 'man' was doing this, Kankuro began talking to the 'man'.

"So what all did the boss want integrated?"

"Well, let's just say this boy will be pretty damned smart. He even wanted the lower level blueprints installed,"

"Whoa, even though it's the lower level, that's still pretty risky. He won't know nothing about security right?"

"No, but I can't guarantee that he won't learn it,"

"Well that's okay. We don't want him escaping right away. He's technically still in beta,"

"He's certainly different from the others. Father really favours this one,"

Gaara was confused. What did it mean to be smart? Lower level blueprints? What did it all mean? Why shouldn't he learn about security? What was security? Others? Where there more like him? Kankuro continued.

"Well, after this, his 'personality' should kick in too, eh?" The 'man' nodded.

"Yup, I've read that this one is gonna be a stubborn ass, but not near as loud as FOX999,"

"Well, FOX999 is basically a forgotten experiment. Don't know why the boss won't just terminate him. Jeese,"

"Alright, that's all done. Now, Gaara, was it? I need you to just relax. This isn't going to hurt," the 'man' said.

Hurt? What did it mean to hurt?

"Not that he'd need to worry about it anyway. Boss said to make him so he wouldn't feel pain. All we had to do was intercept the 'pain' gene and presto! This kid'll never know what pain is. Ever," Kankuro explained.

He would never feel pain? Did pain cause hurt? Were they bad things? Gaara had so many questions…but so little answers.

"Well, just wanna reassure the kid anyway. Here we go!" the 'man' exclaimed. He turned on a switch. The box made a humming sound. Soon Gaara felt very strange…like he was slipping away. He could no longer keep his eyes open. What was going on? Soon he completed slipped away.

* * *

Gaara no longer could hear the humming sound coming from the machine. He opened his eyes and saw the man and Kankuro peering over him. He tried to sit up, but still couldn't on his own.

"Well, how'd it go? He know all that stuff yet?" Kankuro asked.

"The readouts say that it all went well. But now it's time for a test," the man said. He pushed a button and soon the table moved and Gaara was sitting up like he was in the wheel chair. He looked at Kankuro and identified him as a 'man' along with the other man too. He looked over at Temari and identified her as a 'woman'. He never identified them like that before. He was a 'man' too. Something told him that these were called 'genders'. He didn't know about genders before.

The man pulled out a bunch of cards. The first one had a shape on it. He was asked to identify the shape. His mind gave the name 'square', a word he had never heard of before, but he knew what it was. Gaara answered "Square". The man nodded with approval.

It went on like that. He had to identify colours like blue, red, green, yellow, black, white, etc. He was then asked to name the alphabet and count up to 50. Then he was asked to spell his name, and the shapes and colours he had identified earlier. Soon he was asked to spell more difficult words which his mind registered as parts of a 'computer', or 'diseases'.

Then he was asked to add numbers together, then subtract, then multiply and divide. After, he was given an equation which looked like this:

m (p/100)(1 + p/1200)N / (1 + p/1200)N - 1 X L, where p 2.5, N 3 mos. L $4500

Gaara looked over his list of answers.

A. $1506.83

B. $1506.25

C. $1500.25

D. $1575.34

"It's B," Gaara answered. All three of them looked at him with shock. It was like it was supposed to be a difficult question.

"Yup, definitely a success," the man said.

"Wow, you're amazing Gaara! Most people would've had to take lots of time to calculate it by hand. But then again, most people wouldn't know what to do either," Temari exclaimed. "Well, it's time to get you to Physiotherapy so you can move on your own," Soon she was assisted by Kankuro to put him back in the wheel chair.

_How do I know all these things?

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"Well, you certainly have an impressive resume and education record," Kakashi Hatake said, looking over the papers of the new recruit. "No wonder the company was so quick to hire you. I welcome you to the Research and Development sector of BioNin Incorporated, Mister Rock Lee!" He extended his hand to the young man in front of him, who was eager to return it.

"Thank you, Mr. Hatake! It is certainly a pleasure to be working at one of the most prestigious genetic company in the world!" Lee said smiling.

"Please, just call me Kakashi. I'm glad you're so eager. I'll have Sakura show you around later once you get settled into your lab," Kakashi responded.

"Alright! Thank you again!" Lee said, leaving Kakashi's office. Kakashi sat down and looked out the window. He looked at his reflection in the window. A mask covered most of his face, and he wore a traditional ninja headband which covered his left eye. His hair was a silver colour and was pointed upwards. He wore a basic light blue dress shirt with black dress pants. He sighed; wishing he could get some fresh air…it was so nice out today.

_Ah well, business had to be done. Had to introduce myself to the new kid…_

Rock Lee was certainly an interesting character. He had black hair with what appeared to be a mushroom haircut. His eyebrows were pretty big too. However, despite his odd looks, he had a good attitude, and he _was_ a genius. Just what the Research and Development sector needed. He was also oblivious to what really went on. That way, his research wouldn't be distracted.

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Lee had never been this excited for something before. After years of hard work, he actually got a job with BioNin! _The_ BioNin! And his very own lab! Lee finally felt like he could accomplish something! Maybe if he worked very hard, he might discover something fascinating like a gene related to leukemia and a cure!

Or something amazing like that.

Soon, there was a knock at the door, and a girl about his age came in. Her hair was pink in colour and she had fascinating green eyes. She introduced herself as Sakura Haruno.

"I work as Sasuke Uchiha's secretary. He told me that I had to show you around," she explained.

"Nice to meet you Ms. Haruno. My name is Rock Lee," he replied, holding out his hand to shake hers. She was really pretty and nice too. She seemed a bit surprised at his gesture, but complied as necessary.

"Nice to meet you. Shall we get started?" she asked. Lee nodded eagerly.

* * *

Lee was just fascinated by the BioNin building. It was beautifully designed for aesthetic pleasure, as well as comfort for the employees to encourage work. There were lots of people busy at work in other labs analyzing DNA samples and such.

Sakura explained how the company worked as a sort of "hospital" which specialized in gene therapy, and how the company was the leading company in the newest, most efficient, effective and safest therapies there were. She went on to explain that the company also sort of functioned as a "crime lab" performing paternity tests and doing DNA matches and such. Lee felt so excited.

However, when they were passing the stem-cell research faculty, they passed a forbidden corridor.

"Ms. Haruno? Why is this area forbidden?" he asked, analyzing the door. It was near the back of the building, and had many security precautions such as retina scan and fingerprint scanning.

"Oh, it's just where we keep all the information we discover here. Anything you find will be stored here to make sure another company doesn't steal it. Think of it as a big vault," she explained.

"I see," Lee replied. He got a bad feeling from whatever was behind that corridor.

"Let's continue on, shall we?" Sakura said.

* * *

After the tour was over, Lee returned to his lab. Sakura went to report to her boss, Sasuke. He entered his office. He was on the phone with someone. It had to be Kakashi. Noticing Sakura, he ended the conversation.

"Well?" he asked. How Sakura loved his straight-to-the-point attitude.

"It went well. He didn't really suspect anything. Just asked about the restricted area, like all new guys," she explained.

"And you told him the usual thing, right?" he asked. She loved everything about Sasuke…his hair…his eyes…he was so handsome…

"Sakura?" he asked again. She snapped out of her daze. She was blushing.

"Y-yes of course. He shouldn't learn anything about the secret projects," she added. Sasuke leaned back in his chair.

"Good. I just hope he provides us with some good stuff to work with," Sasuke replied.

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_The Genetic Age has begun…_

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Well, there it is! If you have any questions on the science that I've attempted to explain, just let me know and I'll try to explain it better as it works with the story and with reality. I was disappointed with the equation though...the one I had originally was harder looking and the answer was given on the web. This one I had to find a calculator online! For those who really care, it's a loan equation. Disclaimer: I hate math and currently have a 61 in Grade 11 University SO DON'T ASK ME ABOUT MATH!!! Lol. The equation I got off the internet :P. Disclaimer: I hate Sasuke.

Anywho, until next time! Please REVIEW!!!


	2. Chapter 2: AI000

Here's Chapter 2!!! Sorry if it's kind of short, but I'm not too sure where I exactly want the main conflict to come in yet, and I want this story to be at least 20 chapters long too. This is a new genre for me, so please bear with any of my mistakes!!! But please REVIEW and enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters associated with Naruto. Also, this is a work of fiction and any of the science mentioned is fictionous. However, if it resembles real research conducted, it was unintentional.**

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**Chapter Two: AI000**

It had been a week since Gaara was first "awakened". He was able to walk now, and lift things. Since he was first "awakened" he had experienced many strange things.

After his first session of physiotherapy, he could walk for a few minutes on his own with assistance. It felt awkward, but he felt like had accomplished something so far. He was also started in arm exercises, where he was asked to try lifting his arms as high as he could. At first, he couldn't lift them beyond his hips, but each day he got better.

All the people he had visited throughout the week acted strange around him. It was like they would look at him…and be scared or something.

The first time he saw himself was rather frightening for him, too. While Temari was walking with him to his room for the first time after physiotherapy, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirrors lined along the hallway.

He stopped and just stared. His hair was dark red, his eyes were surrounded by thick black lines…they were green and looked very lifeless. On his forehead, was the love tattoo that Father had mentioned before. He looked rather menacing…he felt scared of himself.

"What am I…" he whispered as he stared at his hands. Temari just put her hand on his shoulder and began to lead him to his room.

His room wasn't too small, but not too large either. It was all white, with a single bed and a separate bathroom. There was a set of shelves filled with books and a desk with a small lamp. The wall opposite to his bed was black, almost as if it was tinted…his mind told him it was double-sided glass, where anyone on the other side could see in, but he couldn't see out. This made Gaara somewhat nervous, but unafraid.

"Why do you people want to watch me in my room?" he asked bluntly to Temari, who was explaining to him all the features of his room; he wasn't listening. He'd figure it out anyway.

"It's a security precaution, so if something goes wrong, we can come in immediately and end it," Temari explained. But it sounded practiced…like she had said it many times before.

"What could go wrong?" he asked. He wanted to get to the bottom of this. Temari looked nervous, and said nothing for a minute, as if to formulate something to say.

"Well, you know that you were created by our company, so there's no point in lying to you," she said. "You are a modified being with modified genes in your body, so we want to keep a close eye on you to make sure your body doesn't malfunction,"

Gaara continued to stare at his reflection. He looked very angry at himself. Something was amiss with Temari's explanation. His mind was filled with so many questions…

It was all very interesting to Gaara, even eating for the first time. But there was a pattern to how his days went so far, he woke up, ate, went to a check up, ate again, went to physiotherapy, ate for the last time, then was sent to his room, where they locked him in. He wondered why they locked him in. Even with all of his new found knowledge, he still couldn't answer many of his questions.

But there was one that bugged him the most.

What was love?

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The first week for Lee had been the best week of his life. After his tour with Sakura, he was immediately given assignments. His first assignment was to analyze a blood sample from a patient that was going under gene therapy for her cancer. It was Lee's job to analyze and compare her DNA from her previous sessions.

He printed his report proudly. He noticed that she indeed had been improving. Maybe the company was on the brink of finding a cure for cancer! It was truly inspiring to be part of the process.

And the week went on like that, getting other assignments like analyzing or extracting DNA from different organ cells and reporting his findings. But there was one thing that still bugged him.

That forbidden corridor.

He had tried to ask Sasuke about it, but he gave the same answer Sakura did. He even asked Kakashi. But there was a nagging feeling inside of him. He knew something was going on behind that door. He hoped he may figure it out someday…

* * *

There was a knock at Gaara's door. He was sitting on his bed waiting to be taken to breakfast. The door opened, revealing Temari. She smiled at him.

"Good morning, Gaara. How are you?" she asked pleasantly. Gaara knew that she was only being nice to him out of sympathy, not that he knew why.

"Fine," he said, staring at the mirror wall.

"Well, I have some good news. Today is your first day of school!" she explained, excitedly.

"School? Where would I be going?" Gaara asked.

"Oh, don't worry. We have the proper facilities here. You're going to have your own personal tutor, and you'll be studying all university stuff with a bunch of cool topics. Have you read any of your books yet?" she asked, pointing to the book shelf.

"A few," Gaara replied. He didn't feel like talking much like Temari did. Was he made that way?

"Did you like them?" she asked. He shrugged.

"They were okay," he responded flatly. He wondered if there were people recording him on the other side of the mirror wall.

"Well, I think you're going to like it. You're tutor's name is Baki. You start after breakfast, okay?" she explained. Gaara said nothing. He got up and walked out of the room. Temari watched him leave and then looked into the mirror as well. She then closed the door.

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On the other side of the mirror, machines hummed softly and monitors blinked randomly. At the main controls sat Kankuro, and standing behind him was a tall man who had bandages wrapped around his head, much like a mummy and covered his left eye. Behind him in the shadows was Father.

"He doesn't talk much does he?" the man said. Father chuckled.

"AI000 was designed to just do what he's told and not ask questions. Those kind of genes were easy to isolate when we first started," Father said.

_But we have to be careful with him…the aggression genes may go out of control if he's provoked enough…don't do anything stupid Father. You too, Baki…_Kankuro thought as the image of Gaara's angry eyes haunted his mind.

* * *

Gaara sat in the small desk waiting for "Baki" to come. Like most of the lower level, the room was small and white with fluorescent lights. There was a dry-erase board with a larger desk in front of it. On Gaara's desk was a pencil, some paper and an eraser.

He looked at the single clock hanging above the door. It read 8:45 am. Temari said that he would start at 8:30 in the morning every morning except Saturdays and Sundays. Not that he knew what day it was, anyway.

The room was silent. Gaara closed his eyes and tried to listen for something. He heard the hum of the lights above him and the ticking of the clock. Otherwise, he heard nothing.

Suddenly, he heard something beyond the door. It sounded like footsteps, getting closer and closer…soon the door was opening…

"Ah, you must be Gaara," the man said. He had bandages wrapped around most of his head, hiding the left side of his face. "I'm Baki, and I'll be your tutor,"

Gaara said nothing. So this person was going to be teaching him? Baki stared at him for a moment.

"Well, what are you doing just slouching there? Get ready to take some notes!" Baki said. Immediately Gaara did what he was told; he sat up and picked up his pencil and directed his attention to Baki. Gaara didn't know what made him do it; he just had the overwhelming urge to just…obey.

_Was I made to be like this, too?_

Baki smirked. _Excellent…with the obedience gene inserted, he'll do what anyone will tell him…even if it means killing himself..._

"Well, today we're just going to start with some review, as I want to see what level I should be teaching at," Baki said, and began to write equations and variables on the board and asked Gaara to solve them. Gaara looked at the board. His mind just seemed to look at the numbers and quickly process them, and the answer appeared in his mind. Just like his first time at Information Integration.

"The variable doesn't exist," he said flatly. Baki nodded in approval. And so class went on like this. Before Gaara knew it, lunch had come and gone and he was near the end of class. Gaara felt somewhat relieved; it had been painfully boring.

Baki was writing one last chemical equation on the board, along with the answer. Gaara observed it carefully, and noticed a number was out of place.

"I think you made a mistake…" Gaara started. Baki turned around, glaring at Gaara.

"What did you just say?" Baki responded through his teeth. Gaara repeated himself. Baki slammed his marker on his desk. He walked up to Gaara. He loomed over him. Gaara looked into his eyes.

_They look like everyone else's…_

Suddenly, Gaara felt his face come in contact with his desk. He felt nothing, though. But the impact had stunned him. Soon he was on the floor being kicked viciously by Baki. Gaara still felt nothing, but he found it hard to breathe. Finally he stopped. Gaara stared at him in disbelief, catching his breath.

"Next time you think about being a brat, you'll get it worse!" Baki said, his face flushed with anger. Gaara couldn't understand what he did wrong…he thought Baki would've been proud of him…but instead…

"Now get out, before I get even angrier," he hissed. Gaara immediately got up and ran out of the room. He wanted to go back to his room.

He turned the corner. He was almost there. But something caught his eye. It was his reflection in the hallway mirrors. He looked at himself, and was even more terrified.

His white shirt was now brown with foot prints. His right eye was purple and beginning to swell. But he felt absolutely fine…he felt nothing at all…yet he was injured…

_This kid'll never know what pain is…_

Gaara slowly finished his route to his room, where he slumped up against the bed. He stared at his reflection in the mirror. The swelling seemed to be getting worse, but Gaara still felt fine. He looked at his wrist. Something black caught his eye.

On his wrist was a small bar code, with "AI000" written underneath. He recalled everything that everyone had said about him so far:

_Finally, our ultimate weapon is complete!_

_I created you…you are project AI000 made by BioNin Incorporated._

_You were made to only love yourself…_

_Well, let's just say this boy will be pretty damned smart…He's technically still in beta…_

_Father favours this one…_

_I've read that this one is gonna be a stubborn ass…_

_Most people would've had to take lots of time to calculate it by hand. But then again, most people wouldn't know what to do either…_

_You are a modified being with modified genes in your body, so we want to keep a close eye on you to make sure your body doesn't malfunction…_

Gaara stared at the floor. He pieced it together. He was just a tool…something created out of a lab, modified and pried with…which could later be sold and bought.

Just another useless tool, just another experiment.

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Please review! Sorry again for it being so short! Chapter 3 is in the works!


	3. Chapter 3: The Others

Here it tis! Chapter Three! It's pretty lengthy, and more focused on the "other" experiments in the story, but don't worry-Gaara and Lee are still there! There's still a while before they meet, but just stick with me okay? You won't be disappointed! Please REVIEW and enjoy!

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**Chapter 3: The Others**

Lee stretched his arms high above his head. The clock read 10:45 pm, almost 15 minutes until the whole building closed. He had been working on the liver cell samples for nearly five hours now. It was time he headed home.

He gathered his paper work, keys and coat, saving all of his work on the computer and shutting out the lights. He left his lab, locking the door behind him. He went to return his paperwork to Sakura's desk, where she would sort it in the morning.

However, when he arrived, Sakura hadn't left.

"Ms. Haruno?" Lee asked. She gave a little jump of surprise.

"Oh, Lee, you're still here? I thought you were supposed to be off an hour ago?" she asked, almost sounding suspicious of him.

"I got so caught up in my work, that I lost track of time. I'm surprised to still see you here though," he observed. She laughed lightly.

"Well, the paperwork never dies. Ah-hah, I see you have some for me too," she pointed out. Lee handed them over to her, apologizing for adding to her troubles.

"Don't worry about it, that's my job!" she explained, smiling. The forbidden corridor lightly tugged at the back of Lee's mind; he decided to take the oppourtunity to maybe ask some questions about it.

"Ms. Haruno, I was just wondering about that restricted area…I noticed there were a lot of safety precautions, so who's all allowed in there?" he asked.

"Oh you know the heads of the departments, the CEO, people like that…" she said, not looking up from the paperwork in front of her.

"I see…you mentioned it as being a vault for the research conducted here?"

"Uh-huh,"

"So would any of the researchers be allowed in just in case they needed to look for references of some sort?"

"No, you would just have to ask Kakashi to do it or something,"

She was still looking at the paperwork. But, it seemed like she was more just pretending to, at least, that's what Lee thought.

"I see…but if someone really needed to go in there…"

"What's with all these questions? You're not allowed in there, okay?" she snapped. She soon composed herself, and apologized for her rudeness.

"No, that's alright Ms. Haruno. I was being nosy. Well…goodnight…" he said, slowly leaving the room. She said nothing.

He put on his coat and headed for the entrance. He found himself passing the forbidden corridor. Lee stared at it and all of its precautions. He looked around but saw no signs of video surveillance. Shouldn't this place be surrounded with video cameras? Lee felt the whole thing to be suspicious.

He shrugged and continued walking towards the doors.

* * *

Sakura slouched in her chair. That was a little bit more than she could handle. Sure, the new guys asked their questions, but none so specific like that. They just got their checks and went on their way. But this Lee guy…

"You handled yourself pretty well, except at the end there," a voice said, coming from her doorframe. She looked up and saw that it was her boss.

"Sasuke! Where you there the whole time?" she asked. Her heart was beating and she began to feel nervous. Why did she have to make herself look bad in front of him all the time?

"Basically. Come on, it's time for the midnight shift," he said, exiting her door way. She sighed in relief, arranged a few things and followed him. She closed her door behind her.

She caught up to him and stayed a pace or two behind him. He seemed to like it that way. She didn't mind, she admired his seniority and self confidence.

They were soon in front of the forbidden corridor. They each pulled out there key cards. Sasuke went first, since only one person could go in at a time. He swiped his card in the slot. Then he placed his right hand on the fingerprint scanner and put his eyes into the retinal scanner. When he was cleared, the doors hissed open.

He walked in. The doors immediately closed the door behind him. Sakura repeated the same process. The doors opened as they did for Sasuke, and she stepped inside where he was waiting for her. The doors closed behind her.

And then there was darkness. Sasuke flipped the switch that was near his ear on the wall and soon lights filled a long hallway. He made his way forward, with Sakura following behind him.

The hallway was filled with glass cages in the walls, containing different species of rabbits, snakes, rats and other animals. The further they went down the hall, the stranger looking the animals had become; this was because they were transgenic animals. Some however, looked identical to the others in the cage; this was because they were clones.

This was BioNin's secret cloning and genetics testing lab.

* * *

At the end of the hall was a door which opened to a set of stairs, which led to the lower levels. Sasuke swiped his card in the slot. The staircase soon echoed with the footsteps of both Sasuke and Sakura. They reached their destination, which was another long hallway, but it looked more like a dormitory.

"So what are looking for today?" Sakura asked.

"Just giving them both a check up. Nothing too special," he replied, totally uninterested. Sakura's face saddened and she looked at the ground as she walked.

_We've worked together for so long, but he still doesn't really notice me…_

Suddenly she bumped into Sasuke's back, which made her blush a little. He ignored it, and continued to type in the code to enter the room they were standing in front of. He opened the door.

"About time you showed up, loser! I'm gonna get you this time! Believe it!" a voice from inside said.

"As if, you're weak like you are useless," Sasuke retorted. A young boy with blonde hair and blue eyes stood with his fists clenched, looking angry.

"Please calm down, Naruto," Sakura says. Sasuke scoffed at the name.

"I don't know why we bother giving them names. Their code numbers are just fine with me," Sasuke said. Sakura said nothing, but wrote the code name for 'Naruto' in the corner of her check-list.

_Experiment #: FOX999, genetically modified being_.

* * *

Gaara continued to stare at the floor. Sadness overwhelmed him, but slowly he felt something much darker stir inside him…something much more powerful…

_Is this what anger feels like?_

He clenched his fists. He ground his teeth together. A low grumble stirred in his throat. He looked up at the glass wall and saw himself even more menacing than before. He began to breathe heavily. He felt the anger within him rising...he continued to glare at himself, with his deadly green eyes.

_I want to destroy it…_he thought…_I don't want to look at me anymore…_

Soon he was standing up, blood fiercely pumping through his veins. Something awoke in him, something very sinister…

_I want it to stop looking at me! I want to feel pain!_

That was when Gaara snapped.

* * *

The alarms throughout the forbidden corridor were going haywire. Six or seven people in large white body suits went running down the hall, shouting things that couldn't be heard over the sirens.

Naruto looked confused as he looked out the window on his door. Sakura and Sasuke were covering their ears, as if the sirens were loud. Naruto had set them off so much; he seemed immune to the piercing shriek.

Or then again, it could be it was just because he was made that way.

* * *

Kankuro couldn't believe what he was seeing. One minute, Gaara was just sitting there, appearing to be sulking, then all of the sudden he started to try to break through the glass. And he was almost all the way through!

Kankuro got freaked out and set off the alarm to get a containment team here before Gaara could do anymore damage. It had been three minutes yet it seemed to have been hours…why weren't they here yet?

Kankuro backed up into the wall and just watched the horror unveil before him. Gaara was beating the glass with his fists. His bare fists! Small fragments of glass were slowly slicing through at his skin…but Kankuro knew that Gaara couldn't feel it.

Where was that stupid containment team? The punches were getting stronger, and now Gaara was screaming…but Kankuro couldn't make out what he was saying through the glass. Maybe he was just screaming.

_What in the hell set him off like this? I know Baki roughened him up a bit, but that shouldn't have set any of his specialty genes off…he should never react like this; we made sure that the anger gene was modified to keep any chances of having a temper under control…where did we go wrong?_

Soon Gaara's door burst open and seven people wearing large white biohazard protection suits poured in. Three grabbed him from behind, and Gaara strongly resisted. He flew his arms and legs to fight their binds and was screaming so loud that Kankuro could hear him…he was screaming:

_Let me feel pain!_

Gaara looked so psychotic…it sent a chill down Kankuro's spine. It took another two members of the containment team to finally pin him to the ground. The remaining one took out a syringe and injected it into Gaara's right wrist. For a moment, Gaara continued to struggle, but then he started to slow down, until he passed out.

The containment team members who were holding him down relaxed. Kankuro also relaxed, but his heart was still pounding. Someone then suddenly opened the door, making him jump.

"What happened?!" said Temari, who looked worried as she stood in the doorway. Kankuro said nothing and he just looked back at the broken glass, where on the other side was the containment team was placing Gaara on a stretcher.

Temari walked in and watched as Gaara was hauled away. She saw the shattered glass and the blood stains all over the immaculate room. She put her hand over her mouth in deep shock.

"W-what…" she began. She felt lost for words. All she could do was stare in disbelief.

"Quite powerful, isn't he?" said a deep voice from behind. Both Kankuro and Temari quickly turned around and saw the silhouette of Father within the shadows of the room.

"F-father…I don't know what happened, I-I…" Kankuro began, but Father put his hand up to indicate that he stop speaking.

"No, it's quite alright, Kankuro. This is exactly what I wanted to happen. I wanted to test his strength. And the best way to do that is to get him angry," Father explained.

"But, we made sure that the gene for anger…" Temari protested. Father gave a light chuckle.

"Before the initial growing process, I made a few last minute changes," he said with a wicked grin.

Temari said nothing. Kankuro stared at the floor.

_That would explain why…_

"Baki sure got to him, didn't he? He certainly is the best in physical torture, which makes him perfect for helping our little experiment along, doesn't it? And the wonderful thing, our little Gaara can't feel a thing. The perfect human weapon," Father explained proudly.

_If you can even call him 'human'…_Kankuro thought.

* * *

The sirens soon died down. Sakura and Sasuke removed their hands from their ears. Naruto just stared at them. What suckers.

"Wonder what that was all about?" Sakura pondered. Sasuke said nothing.

"Maybe one of those snake-rabbit things got out again," Naruto pointed out.

"The only reason _why_ they got out last time was because _you_ escaped and _let_ them out," Sasuke said coolly and to the point. Naruto just scoffed.

_I really don't like this guy! He thinks he owns me or something…_

"Just stop being an idiot, and let's get this done as quickly as possible," Sasuke continued. He was referring to the check up.

Every night since he was "awoken" he had gone through nightly check ups so that they made sure he was "functioning" properly. Whatever that meant. He felt fine all the time. He didn't really know why they bothered, at least Sasuke anyway.

Sakura could come anytime. She was always gentle and nice, minus the odd whack to the head now and then…

"So, Naruto, can you please take a deep breath for me?" she asked as she pulled out her stethoscope. Naruto complied as usual.

Sakura put it up against his chest and listened carefully. When she was younger, she had always wanted to be a doctor, to help people. But she never had this in mind.

And the check up went on, finishing with the physical aspect and soon moving on the mental and emotional aspect, with the same results. No improvement, but no decline either.

This was why Naruto was considered a forgotten experiment.

* * *

Naruto was one of two of the first genetically modified beings that BioNin made not too many years ago. He was made in hopes of him being a weapon that countries could pay for in upcoming wars and such.

He was given simple modified genes which a panel of researchers decided he should have, from his appearance to his physical strength to his personality. They decided on blonde hair and blue eyes, since they believed their weapon should look somewhat handsome. They gave him above average strength, but they were very weary at the time with the strength gene.

Then they tampered with the genes which determined metabolism. They made sure so as to make sure that he would never run out of energy, much like the Nine Tail Fox of legend, which gave him his code name, FOX999. And for personality, they made him outgoing. That was about it, since the process was relatively new. They didn't want to tamper with nature too much.

When he was finally "awoken", he seemed to be everything they were looking for. Of course, he knew nothing about anything (Sasuke still thinks he knows nothing about anything) and he couldn't move on his own. However, this was to be expected. He was sent to Information Integration and was given an average intelligence, but was given the strong aptitude to learn. He was given the name Naruto by Father.

Weeks went by, so did many physiotherapy sessions and school sessions and there was no improvement. His "outgoing" personality colliding with his limitless energy made him annoying, persistent and loud. Naruto only turned out to be an average kid, who seemed to just be on an endless sugar high.

However, the company decided not to terminate him, in hopes that one day his modified genes would eventually kick in. It had been nearly one year, and nothing as of yet.

Sakura recorded everything down on her clipboard. She sighed and looked over to Sasuke who said nothing. He just wanted to get out of there. He strongly disliked Naruto.

"Well, that's all for now, Naruto. Thanks for the cooperation," Sakura said.

"Anything for you, Sakura," Naruto replied with a suggestive grin. Sakura hit him on the back of the head with her clipboard.

"Grow up," she said, walking towards the door where Sasuke was standing.

"He can't grow up. He wasn't given the modified version of the maturity gene," Sasuke said sarcastically. Naruto was so immature; he probably didn't understand half of the words in that sentence.

But Naruto could tell when he was being insulted.

"Why you!" he said, beginning to charge for Sasuke. But it was too late. Sasuke was out of the room, and those doors slide pretty fast…_SMACK!_

Sasuke continued down to the next room, with Sakura following behind him.

It was on to the second experiment.

* * *

"O-oh. V-very nice t-to s-s-see you, Sakura," said the quiet voice. Sakura smiled. She wrote on her fresh checklist: _Experiment#: HIN645_. When she was in the process of being made, they wanted her to be shy and not as outgoing as Naruto…so they got an extremely introverted shy girl. Sakura didn't mind.

At least she had manners and self control.

"Nice to see you too, Hinata," Sakura responded pleasantly. Hinata was a lot easier to handle than Naruto. Sasuke also didn't seem to mind her as much either.

Hinata had dark blue hair with light violet eyes, which had the ability of 360 degree vision if under the correct circumstances. It was a new technique that the company was working on. They were hoping they could maybe develop the gene so that it could be inserted into soldiers as an advantage.

When it was first tested on Hinata, it seemed to have no side affects. But then again, she _was_ a modified being. When tested on the lab rats, they seemed to suffer temporary insanity and even _blindness_.

They were still working on it.

Sakura began with the same check up as she did with Naruto, until she heard the door open behind her…

"Hey, what's up, Hinata?" said Naruto's distinctive voice from behind her. Sakura turned around, shocked/angry/surprised that Naruto was there.

"What do you think you're doing?! How did you get out?!" Sakura screamed.

"If I told you that, I wouldn't be able to escape now would I?" Naruto said teasingly. Sasuke sighed and grabbed the lobe of his ear. He began to drag him out of the room.

"What do you think you're doing? That hurts! You moron! One day I'll…!" The doors shut behind them. Sakura sighed. Sasuke was certainly amazing…she turned back to Hinata. She was blushing furiously.

"What's got you all worked up, Hinata?" Sakura asked, perplexed at this behavior. This had happened before…always when she was around Naruto…

Hinata shook her head. "I-it's nothing…" she said, barely in a whisper. Sakura smiled and put her hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay if you like him, you know. Of course, I don't exactly know what you see in him…" Sakura said. Hinata gave a small smile and blushed more. Sakura finished with her check up, bid her goodbyes to Hinata, and left the room.

_For genetically modified beings, they're pretty human…_

_

* * *

_

Stay tuned for Chapter 4! Please review! Thank you to all those who have reviewed so far, I really appreciate it! Any questions, let me know, since a lot of this I'm making up! Bye for now!


	4. Chapter 4: The Forbidden Corridor

Finally!!! Sorry for the long wait, but I hit the biggest writer's boulder in the world. Not block. Boulder. I hope you all enjoy and, and don't worry: they should meet no later than chapter 6!!! Please stay with me at least till then!!! So here is Chapter 4 of "The Experiment"!

**DISCLAIMERS: All science that is mentioned in this story is FICTIONAL, and should NOT be used as a reference for anything realistic. I also, sadly, do NOT own any of the Naruto characters. They, sadly belong to Masashi Kishimoto-sama does.**

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* * *

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**Chapter 4: The Forbidden Corridor**

Gaara just lay on the hospital bed, heavily sedated. He was hooked up to several monitors that monitored his heart beat, breathing and brain activity. He had been under sedation for nearly two days since the accident.

He had very little memory of what happened. He just remembered being in his room where he was looking at himself…that's where everything became sketchy. Soon he found himself laying here, extremely tired with both of his hands extremely bandaged up. He shifted his eyes lazily to see if anyone else was around. He saw no one.

He was all alone.

And he fell asleep again.

* * *

Sakura stretched out her arms and yawned. Her desk was piled with endless amounts of paperwork, most were to really be filled out by Sasuke. However, she was Sasuke's secretary, and he had more important matters to attend to.

She seriously contemplated the thought of hiring someone to be _her_ secretary.

Taking a sip from her cup of coffee, she rested her head on her desk. Maybe she'd just take a little nap…just a little five minute nap…

"It's not like you to sleep on the job," said Sasuke's voice from in front of her. She jolted up immediately, trying to think of an excuse.

"I, uh…wasn't sleeping, I just…uh…" she searched her desk for something to cover her. She grabbed a pen. "I just dropped my pen!"

Nobody would ever buy that, she thought with a sigh.

"Anyway, Kankuro sent up an assignment he said he wanted one of the upstairs researchers to do for the new project that they're working on," Sasuke explained, handing her a folder with a large stack of paper inside. She lightly flipped through it.

"I wonder if this has to do with that alarm the other night, for them to be sending something like this up here…" she said.

"I don't know…I'm not part of that project," Sasuke replied. _Instead I'm stuck doing stupid doctor's check-ups on rejects_, he though bitterly. Sakura shrugged. She yawned again.

"Tonight's our last midnight shift until next week," Sasuke mentioned, noticing Sakura's fatigue. Three days worth of midnight shifts would drive anyone crazy.

"Anyone in particular you had in mind for me to give this to?" she asked.

"Give it to the new guy. I've seen some of his work, and he's pretty good," he replied.

Sakura continued to scan the report. _Research chromatin levels in angrier people? Observe anger gene?_ "This sounds pretty serious, don't you…"

She looked up. Sasuke had left. She sighed.

_It would be nice if he tried to have a conversation that lasted more than five minutes once in a while…_

She gathered her papers and went to go visit Lee.

* * *

Lee was staring intently into a microscope when Sakura came in. He seemed to jump when she knocked on the doorframe.

"Oh, Ms. Haruno, it's so nice to see you!" he said with a pleasant smile. He always seemed energetic and enthusiastic, like Naruto…

Why couldn't she have the metabolism of a kid on a sugar high?

"Nice to see you too, Lee. I have a new assignment for you," she said. His eyes lit up.

"A new assignment? Really? Alright!" he replied. He started to talk really fast; Sakura found that she couldn't follow.

_I don't think I've seen anyone get this excited over a new assignment…_

"Yes…that's nice," Sakura said, trying to slow him down. She handed the folder to him which he eagerly took from her.

"Thank you, Ms. Haruno!" Lee said excitedly. Sakura smiled and nodded. She found herself yawning again. Maybe she could lock her office door and take a nap…

"Tired?" Lee asked. He was totally calm and collected.

_Did I miss something?_ Sakura concluded that she was too tired to keep up with his mood swings.

"Yeah, I've been working really late for the past few days," she explained. It wasn't completely untrue.

"Well I hope Mr. Uchiha will give you some time off. You deserve it," Lee said with a smile.

_I'll say…_Sakura thought. "Oh don't worry, I'll be able to handle it," she replied.

Lee then started digging through his desk drawer, and pulled out a lemon air freshener. He handed it to her.

"I usually take a whiff of this when I feel like I'm going to fall asleep. Lemon is supposed to make you feel more awake," he explained. Sakura looked perplexed.

"Odd, but I guess I'll give it a try. If I drink anymore coffee, I think I'm going to get a headache. Well, I'll see you later," she said making her way to the door.

"I sure will! Thanks again for the new assignment!" Lee exclaimed.

_That has to be a genetic trait or something that I missed out on…_Sakura thought as she headed back to her office.

She locked the door behind her and closed all the blinds. She stared at the lemon air fresher, and then put it away.

_I'll try that later…after I take a nap…_

She rested her head on her desk and drifted off into a light sleep.

* * *

Lee stared at the folder that Sakura gave him as if it were a gift from the gods. A new assignment! And from the looks of it, it looked pretty important. He had been studying the same liver cells for the past four or five days, with nothing new to report, so he was excited to start something new!

He opened it up with much excitement. He read every word tentatively, soaking it all in. He gathered that he was to study the "anger gene", and how different forms of it gave certain tempers to some, but patience to some. He was to also study how the gene affects the behaviour of heart cells, brain cells, blood cells…

Lee stared at it in disbelief. He got to conduct an entire study on _this_? Lee slowly looked up to the ceiling to no one in particular, and with teary eyes said,

"Thank you!!!"

He began to pull out case studies and got to work right away.

* * *

Sakura woke up to someone knocking on the door. She groaned.

"Will it kill you if I slept for maybe 10 minutes?!" she shouted as she walked to the door. She unlocked it and through it open. She was tired, which usually resulted in anger.

However, it was times like these that she regretted her overtired temper.

Standing in the door was none other than Sasuke.

"Oh, um, Sasuke…I'm sorry about that, I thought it was someone else…I uh, oh my…" she began to babble.

_Why does this always happen to me?!?!?!_

As if that wasn't embarrassing enough, her mind processed what she must look like right now; her hair was disheveled, her shirt slightly un-tucked from her skirt, and the list went on and on…

"Okay. Well, come on, we have to get to work," he said. Sakura became confused.

"Work? What time is it?" she asked.

"It's about ten to midnight. I assume you've been sleeping for a while, so I'll let you get all your stuff ready before we go," he said. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Instead she nodded and closed her door. That lemon air freshener looked rather useful at this point.

_Did I really sleep that long? _She thought. _He must think I'm an idiot!!!_

She then went to her desk and quickly began to brush her hair.

* * *

Outside her office, Sasuke leaned against the wall, waiting for her so they could give the "rejects" as he called them their daily check up. He couldn't wait until tomorrow though, since he would get to go home and sleep instead for the next few nights. Both he and Sakura needed it.

He joined BioNin almost four years ago straight from high school, since he had the highest grades in his class, with the intelligence of someone in their fourth year of university. He was first hired as an apprentice for his older brother, Itachi, who had been hired two years earlier, while completing some university curriculum. Itachi was also a genius, graduating high school only after two years and completing university in three, with a master's degree in forensic sciences.

At first, things worked really well between him and his brother. Itachi gathered tons of research on cloning and made his way up the company, and eventually Sasuke gained his position as a full-time researcher after earning his masters in biomolecular chemistry, with a minor in forensic sciences.

It was shortly after that, where everything went downhill.

After Itachi's promotion to head of the research department, he began to act strange. Many of the researcher's data was going missing as well as many important specimens, which was making the CEO extremely angry. It was soon to be found out that it had been Itachi who had committed all these crimes, trying to make the research of others become his own.

This infuriated Sasuke. How could his own brother do something so stupid? Sasuke soon learned that his own research had gone missing, and all the results where published under Itachi's name. He felt betrayed.

Soon he was fired and sent to prison and Sasuke never spoke to or heard from him again. He was soon promoted to his brother's former position, and all order had been restored since. He became one of the few selected researchers along with his newly hired secretary, Sakura, to be part of a special team who was going to secretly create genetically modified human beings for commercial and war purposes.

And he was stuck babysitting for them ever since.

* * *

Standing outside of Sakura's office made him reflect on what had happened only moments ago. He had to admit, she was scary when she was angry.

_It's a good thing I didn't wake her up earlier…_he thought, remembering going into her office about four or five hours ago.

He had gone back to her office after his meeting to check on the new assignment she gave to the new guy. He noticed that the door was closed, and knocked lightly. There was no reply, and he found that the door was locked. Having a key that opens any and every door in the building came handy, as he pulled it out and unlocked the door.

He went inside, noticing that all the blinds were closed, and Sakura's head resting on the desk. He wondered if she was sleeping. As he got closer, he found that he guessed right. She looked remarkably…cute.

The door then opened behind him and Sakura came out looking sharp and composed as always. However, she still seemed to be embarrassed about earlier, since she didn't look directly at him.

He always found it amusing when she was embarrassed around him.

"Why do _you_ have to always come?" Naruto whined as Sakura checked up on him again.

"Why do _you_ have to always complain?" Sasuke retorted. Naruto clenched his fist.

"Well, I wouldn't complain if you just didn't come!" Naruto said back.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Sasuke said, looking at his hand, completely uninterested.

"I'm not an idiot, you idiot!!!" he yelled back. He went to attack him, but Sakura grabbed his arm fully and sat him back down.

"Stop moving or we'll never get this done!" Sakura explained. Wanting to impress her, he began to behave.

"Hey, Sakura, if I begin behaving, can I go visit Hinata with you? I need to stretch my legs and get out of this room!" Naruto explained. Sakura sighed.

"Maybe. That's _only_ if you_ behave_," she replied.

"Alright!"

"And that means not bothering Sasuke," she added. Naruto's face dropped a little, but he did his best to comply.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He didn't understand how Sakura could treat these things the way she did. Even if they looked human, to Sasuke, they weren't. They were just something created in a lab…just a tool that they could use or dispose of as they pleased.

"There, all done," Sakura explained. Naruto rotated his shoulder. There was still no change. She was beginning to lose hope in the project all together.

"I behaved, so can I come with you, pretty please?" Naruto asked, mustering his biggest puppy dog eyes.

She sighed. _Sasuke's not going to like this…_ "Alright, but absolutely NOTHING funny, or else I'll make sure you never leave this room ever again!"

Naruto seemed to shrink in the midst of her authority, but meekly said, "Yes ma'am,"

They walked down the hall towards Hinata's room. Naruto hadn't done anything stupid yet, which was surprising. Sasuke, unsurprisingly however, looked angry. Sakura began to regret her decision and began to pray that whoever was up there to give her mercy later on.

Hinata was sitting at her desk reading when they came in. Seeing Naruto appear made her blush, since it was a rare occasion to have him come and visit her. She knew that sometimes he would sneak out and bring her back something from one of the upstairs vending machines, but that was only when Sasuke and Sakura weren't on the midnight shift.

"H-hello," she said quietly. Sakura began administering her usual tests.

"So how've you been, Hinata?" Naruto asked. She blushed. He was actually talking to her!

"I…I've been good…a-and, you?" she asked, her voice imitating her nervousness. She was always this way around him. She could never muster up the courage just to talk to him…she resented herself for it.

"I've been good. I actually talked Sakura into letting me come visit you today," he explained. Hinata blushed even more.

"O-oh…I-I, see," she replied looking away. Her face was close to beet red now. He actually _wanted_ to visit her?!

Naruto gave her a strange look. He could never understand why she acted like that around him. Must be how she was made or something.

He watched as Sakura conducted the same check up on Hinata. She caught a glimpse of him watching her, and immediately looked away. Her heart was pounding. He was _watching_ her! She recalled when she first met him.

Hinata remembered being terribly frightened when she was first "awakened". She wanted to hide from all the strange people that surrounded her…especially Father. He scared her the most.

After her first session of Information Integration and physiotherapy, she was sent to her room where she cried. She had no idea what was going on. She also began to have weird images of things in her head, which her mind registered as "memories". But being "awakened" for the first time, how could she have "memories"? It was truly frightening.

That same day, she met Sakura and Sasuke. She remembered Sakura being very friendly, and Sasuke being indifferent towards her. Of course, she was still scared. That was when a young boy about her age with blonde hair and blue eyes came in. Sakura introduced him as "Naruto". Sakura told her that he was just like her, and that they should become "friends".

Of course, neither not knowing what "friends" truly were, they didn't know how to act around each other; they only knew what their genes allowed them to be. As a result, Naruto was really loud and outgoing, while Hinata was very shy and quiet. Sakura and Sasuke left the room, leaving the two of them alone. There was an awkward silence.

"So…you're name is Hinata?" Naruto asked. She nodded, as she sniffed.

He didn't really say anything else. Hinata didn't say anything either, she was very scared. For some reason, the tears began to form in her eyes again.

"What's wrong? I didn't offend you did I?" Naruto asked, not understanding what was going on. Hinata closed her eyes and shook her head. She turned away from him, and continued to cry. Suddenly, she felt his hand on her shoulder.

"If you're scared, don't worry. I was scared when I was first "awakened" too," he said calmly. She looked up at him, and he smiled at her. She felt her face turn red.

"Want me to show you around?" he asked. Hinata wiped away her tears.

"O-okay…" she responded quietly.

Since then, her feelings toward him only grew. Sadly, he didn't seem to feel the same way about her, forgetting most of what happened that day. She knew that he had a crush on Sakura, but she wasn't discouraged. But having her shy personality, she was always so weak around him. As Sakura finished up her check up, she sighed.

"Well, seems you're doing fine, Hinata," Sakura explained, writing little notes on her clipboard. "Come on, Naruto, time to go back to your room,"

Naruto began to pout. "I don't wanna go back yet!"

Sasuke sighed, as he grabbed onto Naruto's ear lobe and dragged him out of Hinata's room (again). She could hear Naruto's complaining as he was dragged down the hall. Sakura said her goodbyes, and Hinata was left alone in her room.

Happy that Naruto came to visit, Hinata fell asleep smiling.

* * *

Lee peered into the microscope again. So far, he had found that there was a certain protein in the gene that triggered someone's temper, and the more the protein, the bigger the temper. He concluded that removing a certain amount of the protein could easily decrease the subject's temper. Adding more of the protein, even if the subject already has high levels of it, could certainly make the person snap under the simplest of pressures.

In other words, the subject would go out of control.

Trying to find a way to activate the protein, he administered adrenaline and other hormones related to excitement. Lee noticed that with adrenaline added to the protein, more adrenaline was produced, and the cells around it would react. Now he was looking at the effects of this gene on other cells. He took a sample of skin cells and activated the protein within the cells' DNA. It had been fifteen minutes, and so far, nothing special had happened.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Lee beckoned the person to come in. When he looked up, it was Sakura's boss, Sasuke.

"Hello, Mr. Uchiha! How may I be of service?" Lee asked.

Straight to the point, Sasuke responded, "I've come to see what you've gather so far,"

Lee gathered his papers. "So far, I've found that a protein that surrounds the gene triggers its effects and what triggers this protein is excess amounts of adrenaline," he explained. Sasuke nodded, looking at the charts. Lee continued.

"And since amount is related to function in this case, the more of the protein you have, the more susceptible to anger you are. Right now, I'm observing the effects of this reaction on other types of cells,"

Sasuke closed the file folder. "Keep up the good work. Whatever else you find, put it in Sakura's inbox," Sasuke said.

"Oh, is Ms. Haruno getting the night off?" Lee asked.

"As am I," Sasuke replied, leaving the office.

Lee shrugged and resumed his work.

* * *

Gaara woke up again, feeling drowsier than ever. He wondered when they were going to stop sedating him and let him go back to his own room. He still couldn't remember what happened. It made him upset.

Clenching his fist, he tried to sit up. He noticed that he was strapped to the bed, and could only move his head. Why did they treat him this way? Then, Temari came in.

"It's nice to see that you're awake Gaara," she said with a smile. However, he still saw fear in her eyes. He said nothing.

"We're just going to give you a vaccine before you can go back to your tutoring and physiotherapy," she explained, pulling out a needle.

"What kind of vaccine?" he asked, not looking at her.

"It's a vaccine that's going to remove a little bit of protein which is linked to one of your genes," she explained.

"You mean the one that makes me angry?" he asked flatly. Temari seemed taken aback at how he knew that.

"I heard the doctors talking while I was passed out," he explained. She said nothing, as she continued to sterilize her needle. Gaara stared up at the ceiling, as Temari inserted the needle into him.

"All done," Temari said quietly, as she began to put her kit away. A nurse came in and began to detach him from the machines. She also began to undo the straps which chained him to the bed. Temari then led Gaara back to his room.

The room was once again immaculate, and the broken glass was fixed. Of course, Gaara didn't really remember what made the room dirty or the glass broken in the first place, but came to the conclusion it was his fault.

Why else would they strap him to a hospital bed?

* * *

Lee struggled to keep his eyes open. For the past few hours, he had been looking at the triggered anger gene's effects on liver cells. So far, there was nothing too special, but Lee hoped that something would arise.

He opened his drawer and pulled out another air freshener, taking a big whiff.

_Ahh…that always does the trick!_

He looked up at the clock above the door to his lab and saw that it was already 12:05 in the morning. Had he really been working all this time? He would've thought that Sakura would've come to send him home…when he realized that Sakura got the night off.

"Oh well…I guess I should pack it up then…"

He gathered all of his things. He shut off the light in his lab, locking the door behind him. The building was dead silent. It was almost eerie. Lee began to walk towards the front entrance, when he heard something close behind him.

Lee turned around swiftly. He saw nothing in the darkness. Thinking that he was hearing things, he turned back around and continued on his way. Soon he was coming to the forbidden corridor. He stopped in his tracks.

_The door was open_.

He looked around to see if there was anybody else around.

"Mr. Uchiha? Ms. Haruno?" he yelled. There was no response. Looking back at the opened door and saw a young blonde kid standing in front of it!

"Hey! You!" Lee cried, beginning to chase the boy. Seeing that someone had caught him, the boy ran through the door. Lee had just managed to get in when the door's hissed behind him.

It was dark. Lee could hear the footsteps of the young boy as he ran down the hallway. Soon it hit Lee where he was.

In the forbidden corridor.

Suddenly, the lights came on, and Lee saw the boy almost at the end of the hall. Being one of the best runners in his class, he quickly pursued him.

Once he turned around the corner, Lee was soon chasing the boy down a strange corridor of strange animals. However, Lee didn't notice, as his attention was focused on the boy.

"Get back here!" Lee shouted. The boy seemed to laugh, and continued running. He followed him down a set of stairs, and down another hallway. Soon the boy turned into a room. Once again, just in the knick of time, Lee managed to get in just before the door closed.

"Wow, you sure are fast!" the boy said. Lee huffed, as he tried to understand exactly what had just happened. That was when he noticed that the boy wasn't out of breath at all…as if he didn't run in the first place.

He looked over to see a young girl about the boy's age with dark hair and violet eyes, looking very scared at Lee's presence. Once Lee managed to get his composure back, he began to question the boy.

"What exactly are doing here?"

The boy gave a little snigger, as if Lee should already know the answer. "What a silly question, Fuzzy Brows! We live here,"

"What?" Lee replied.

"Do I have to spell it out to you?" the boy whined. "Both Hinata and I live here, at BioNin's genetics testing lab,"

"Genetics testing? What are you talking about? BioNin doesn't do any genetics testing!" Lee said.

"You must be new…" the boy said, shaking his head. "Looks like we're gonna have to explain everything to this guy, Hinata," The girl blushed at the boy's acknowledgment to her.

"By the way, I'm FOX999, but you can just call me Naruto,"

* * *

Lee stared in disbelief as Naruto explained everything, Hinata filling in the little details Naruto missed. What he could piece from it was that they were both genetically modified human beings that were being tested secretly in the deepest lairs of the BioNin building.

"Wow…I didn't even think that was possible…" Lee said to himself.

"Well, Fuzzy Brows, it's _definitely_ possible. Otherwise, how would Hinata and I get here?" Naruto replied.

_It would explain why he wasn't out of breath after that long chase…_

"Oh! Before I forget…here Hinata, I got you your favourite," Naruto said, passing her a bag of chips.

"T-thank you, Naruto…" she replied, blushing again.

"Is that what you were doing up there?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, I normally sneak out when Sakura and Sasuke aren't on the midnight shift to get us some snacks. I haven't managed to figure out how to sneak out of the building yet though…someday I will!" Naruto explained.

"Why are you trying to break out of the building?" Lee asked, curious as to why an experiment would want to leave its environment.

"I hate it down here. They treat us like lab rats, keeping us cooped up in our rooms all day, watching us all the time. Of course, they don't watch us that much anymore…" Naruto explained.

"Why?" Lee asked again.

"Because we're rejected experiments," Hinata responded quietly. Both looked very sad.

_Although they were created in a lab, they're still human…_Lee thought, seeing the sadness in both of their eyes.

"But someday, I'm gonna get both Hinata and I outta here!" Naruto said, clenching his fist in determination. Hinata looked surprised at Naruto's concern for her, blushing again.

"Are you the only ones down here?" Lee asked, trying to be cautious of how he used his words.

"Not that we really know of. I know there's lots of transgenic animals and stuff like that…but when I sneaked out the other night, I heard some of the researchers talking about another project…but that's about it," Naruto said. Lee nodded in understanding.

"You know, I like you, Fuzzy Brows. You should come down here more often!" Naruto said. His mood had completely changed. That's when Lee realized that he wasn't supposed to be down here!

"Oh no!!! What's Ms. Haruno going to do when she finds out that I've been down here?! I'm going to be fired! They'll kill me for sure!!!" Lee cried, going in a spastic downward spiral.

"Calm down, Fuzzy Brows! You're secret's safe with us. You just have to make sure you only come when Sakura and Sasuke aren't working and are out of here before 6:00 am. That's when the morning crew comes in," Naruto explained. Lee felt himself calm down.

"But how am I supposed to get in? I don't have the access…" Lee began to explain.

"Don't worry about it. Naruto the genius is at your service! I can get you in no problem!" Naruto said.

Touched by his kindness, Lee decided he would try doing something for them in return.

"Thank you, Naruto and Hinata. Someday, I will help you get the both of you out of here so you can see the outside world," Lee said, giving a thumb up.

Both stared in awe. "Really? You would really do that?" Naruto said quietly.

Lee nodded and smiled.

"You're the best, Fuzzy Brows!!!" Naruto said, tackling him to the ground.

* * *

There it is! Please **REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!** Next chapter hopefully will be up soon.


	5. Chapter 5: Suspicion

Eh-heh ^^; Hey, guys...I'm back? It's been a while, hasn't it? I know you guys are probably very angry with me, but hey, look! A chapter! *runs* Apparently, I wrote it already. I thought about adding onto it, but I decided to keep it at the length it is. I plan to work on Chapter 6 soon, now that I'm all inspired to write again. I _promise_ that Lee and Gaara will meet next chapter! Remember-this story wants to be a long story! Anywho, I hope you enjoy this new chapter. It feels pretty good to be back. Just try not to kill me. If you did, then this story (as well as my others) would never get finished!

**Disclaimer: Naruto and friends don't belong to me. Also, all the science is basically made up. Don't reference it in any of your science projects. Wikipedia would be more accurate than this story. But don't reference Wikipedia either. Your teachers would be very displeased. **

* * *

**Chapter 5: Suspicion**

Lee didn't sleep well at all once he returned home after Naruto got him out of the building undetected. He still couldn't believe all that had happened…BioNin had really experimented with creating super humans? He began to wonder if his research was going towards the further study of creating them…that's when his anger gene study came to the forefront of his mind.

_I wonder if they're using that!_ Lee thought, tossing around to the other side of his bed. He looked over at his clock, which read 3:32 am. It was going to go off in about 3 hours…Lee told himself…he should really get some sleep…

He then drifted off into a light sleep. He saw himself in the forbidden corridor…he heard someone screaming, and Lee ran towards the sound. He found a boy, who looked about his age with red hair, crumpled on the floor, crying. Lee knelt down and patted him on the back…the boy mumbled something about wanting to feel pain…Naruto and Hinata were standing in the doorway…the alarm was going off…Lee had to get them all out…

Lee sat up, and looked around to see where he was. When his mind registered that he was at home, and the alarm in his dream was just his clock, he shut the clock off and got up and started to get ready to go back to work.

* * *

Sakura yawned. It was sure nice to have midnights off, Sakura thought as she sorted through the morning's mail. She certainly wasn't looking forward to resuming them next week. She took a sip of her coffee as she flipped through the letters addressed to Sasuke. Most were from the small research groups that BioNin had stationed around the world for further researcher into materials not found in headquarters' country. A lot of the time, they were just asking for more money.

Then there was one that caught her eye. It was addressed from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Sakura sighed, and went into Sasuke's office.

"Sasuke, the F.B.I.'s mailed us again," she said. Sasuke looked up at her and sighed like she had earlier.

"Wonder what they want this time," Sasuke said, taking the letter.

"I know. They've searched the building several times, I don't see why they want to again," Sakura explained. Sasuke put the opened letter on his desk, having just finished reading it.

"It's the forbidden corridor. We've denied them access every time, saying that it could corrupt any specimens that we keep in there and could put our company's research in danger of exposure," Sasuke said. "It's not like we were lying,"

Sakura took the letter from the desk and read it for herself:

_To the CEO and Research and Development Sector of BioNin Inc;_

_A search warrant of your facilities is in need because of suspicions of illegal genetic testing. We wish that we are granted permission to search your ENTIRE facilities, and be allowed access to your files and computer system. It is best advised that you allow authorities access, or the company shall suffer great consequences._

_Signed, N. Hyuuga, FBI _

"That Hyuuga guy is such an ass," Sakura said. Sasuke gave an agreeing nod, as he picked up his phone, dialing for Kakashi's office.

"Father isn't going to be happy about this," Sasuke said as he was waiting for a response from the other end.

* * *

Lee found it hard to concentrate when he got to work. All the lemon fresheners in the world couldn't keep him focused with last night's events weighing on his mind. He began to wonder if maybe it was all just a dream…

…suddenly, something in the microscope caught his eye. He was testing the protein's affect on heart cells, and so far, 10 minutes had elapsed. He peered closer into the microscope to see what was happening.

He couldn't believe his eyes.

The cells were beginning to deteriorate!

He began to frivolously take down notes. He noted that when there were very high levels of the protein in heart cells, it would cause the cell to cause damage to itself only after 10 minutes to the exposure. He concluded that if this wasn't ceased right away, the subject in question would go into cardiac arrest.

The odds of surviving…Lee calculated…would be 1 in 14 million.

Something stirred within him, and he began to feel very sad.

* * *

Gaara sat in his room. He found himself wanting nothing more than being disconnected from everyone. He continued his lessons with Baki, and his hatred for them continued to grow. In physiotherapy, however, he was beginning to learn martial arts.

This he rather enjoyed, although he didn't show it. He learned each skill quickly and mastered them with ease. Within a few days he was at black belt level. During this time, he was also taught the use of weapons.

Even though Gaara had no intention of using these skills, for some reason, in every lesson he had, there had to be a containment team watching. He figured that they were probably there to end any other "incident" like the one he had only days ago.

Gaara still couldn't remember what happened. He wondered if they had been giving him more than just sedatives. Thinking of the sedatives also made him think of the vaccine that Temari had given him.

_I wonder who found all of that out…must've been pretty smart…_he thought, as he punched the punching bag dangling in front of him.

Soon after, Kankuro came in. Temari followed.

"Alright, Gaara, your martial arts lessons are over for today. Father wants to see how much you've improved," he explained.

Gaara just gave them an empty stare, and silently complied. He followed them down the familiar hallway which led to his room. However, they turned down an unfamiliar corridor. Something sparked in Gaara's mind, as if he knew where he was although he had never been there before.

That's when he remembered that the blueprints of this level were installed during his information integration.

They reached a door which said "Training Room 245: Authorized Personnel Only". Kankuro swiped his card through the slot and typed in a pin number. Gaara watched intently as he did so.

_3…0…4…6…_he committed to memory. The door opened, and beyond its frame was darkness. Kankuro motioned for Gaara to enter. Although it seemed foreboding, Gaara was unafraid, and walked in. The door hissed behind him and he was left in darkness.

* * *

And there you have it. Short, I know, but next chapter will be longer. I hope I can keep up with the plot line and the style it's written in. I also hope that you enjoyed it. Feel free to review, but try to refrain from ranting at me about waiting two years to finally update.

Until next time~!


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